First Polish Analog Mission to Mars

EXO17 will be organized as an analog mission to develop team composition strategies for long duration space exploration. Analog missions are simulations of real space missions, conducted in an environment resembling the actual conditions encountered by astronauts in space. In this case, the Utah desert offers a geological environment similar to the surface of Mars. Additionally, the research station and the equipment mirror real space conditions. Analog missions are organized to develop operating procedures for future missions in isolated habitats, to conduct experiments and test selected equipment.

St. Christopher Modular Space Suit

The EXO17 crew will test the functionality of an analog modular space suit designed in cooperation with School of Form in Poznań. It is the first space suit designed and produced in Poland. Thanks to the modular construction, the functional parts of the garment, such as pockets, can be added or removed according to the needs of the crew members. For example, a geologist would need different pockets, to carry tools and perform various tasks, than a rover operator. Data collected during these tests will be used to improve the design of the space suit for future missions.

Analog missions create an excellent environment for psychological research. A cognitive psychologist, Hanna Bednarek, Ph.D., Associate Professor at SWPS University, will conduct psychological assessments of the crew, before, and after the mission. She will diagnose chronotypes (i.e. the individual’s propensity for sleep at a particular time during a 24-hour period) of the crew members and will monitor their mood and stress levels. She will also test the function of crew members’ working memory at various times of the day.

Additionally, one phase of the research project will take place in the Mars analog habitat in Utah. The observation of the crew members during the mission will allow to test the hypothesis that the morning vs. the evening chronotype impacts the executive functions of the working memory. This part of research is especially important, because effective functioning of the working memory supports more complex cognitive processes, such as thinking, planning or decision making. The goal of the project is to collect information that will help to develop optimal individual work schedules for members of future missions of this type.

Moreover, the mission will allow to test styles of leadership of the crew members, team composition, behavior in isolation and in difficult conditions as well as human-robot interaction, including the anthropomorphisation of the mission robot.

"Space psychology research is of huge significance, because the frequency and the role of man-manned long time space travel will be increasing in the coming years", says Jakub Falaciński.

The lack of water in space presents a considerable challenge for space exploration projects. Jakub Falaciński, social psychologist, graduate of SWPS University and inventor, has designed a mobile shower FOG that requires just two cups of condensed water to wash a person. During the mission, the crew will test whether it is possible to effectively wash a human body using water mist. Successful results would help to solve the problem of limited water resources in space and on earth, in areas such as desert habitats or disaster zones.

“People think that the money spent on space programs disappears into thin air. It is quite the opposite. A lot of tools, materials or procedures that we use every day have been developed in the course of space research. We want to show that our ideas, though they might seem out of this world, are rooted in reality and can be applied here, on Earth, in business, industry or in difficult conditions”, explains Jakub Falaciński.

EXO17 is the first stage of a cyclical EXO (Experimental Objectives) research program focused on mounting analog missions to conduct various experiments that eventually will enable a manned mission to Mars. The next stages of the program will be conducted in the Foundation’s own mobile habitat in Iceland (planned for 2019) and on Spitsbergen in Norway (planned for 2021). So far, experiments in a mobile habitat have never been conducted anywhere in the world.

The EXORiON Foundation would like to involve students and researchers to work on specific projects for the upcoming missions. SWPS Unviersity’s School of Form, School of Ideas and the Management Program present a lot of potential for future cooperation. The Foundation plans to organize a design competition for students of School of Form, which will provide the winner with an opportunity to join the crew in the EXO19 analog mission in Iceland.